What do you think about the price of an HRM???

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They seem so expensive to me, its ridiculous! I just wanted to know what your think about it and if you think its worth it. If you use and HRM please let me know the pros and cons and any suggestions. Thanks.

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  • cmriverside
    cmriverside Posts: 34,124 Member
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    totally worth it. My Polar - $100. I use it for all kinds of things, not just as a HRM.

    Make sure you buy one with a chest strap, they are a bit more accurate.

    Great blog:
    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/blog/Azdak/view/the-real-facts-about-hrms-and-calories-what-you-need-to-know-before-purchasing-an-hrm-or-using-one-21472
  • erickirb
    erickirb Posts: 12,293 Member
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    I have never heard anyone say that the HRM was a waste of money.
  • ckisme
    ckisme Posts: 15
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    I agree, it's totally worth the price!
  • jrich1
    jrich1 Posts: 2,408 Member
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    My wife got my Polar FT7 on sale for like $80 and I love it
  • mmulhern914
    mmulhern914 Posts: 25 Member
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    I got a Timex for $38.99 from overstock.com that came with a chest strap. I love it!! It is the best thing that I have ever purchased. I was over estimating my calories and this has kept me right on track!!
  • Packerfan23
    Packerfan23 Posts: 225 Member
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    Definitely worth the money. I use mine all the time. I would definitely invest in one that has the chest strap...well worth it! :smile:
  • MinnieInMaine
    MinnieInMaine Posts: 6,400 Member
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    Think of it as an investment in your health.

    I can't speak much to actually spending the money on them though since both HRMs I've owned were given to me as birthday presents. Yup, that's right, I'm such an exercise geek I got a new HRM and new sneakers for my birthday. LOL!
  • live4turns
    live4turns Posts: 314 Member
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    They seem so expensive to me, its ridiculous! I just wanted to know what your think about it and if you think its worth it. If you use and HRM please let me know the pros and cons and any suggestions. Thanks.

    Totally worth it. Omron HR1-100C is $33 on amazon.com. It's great because the chest strap battery is replaceable. It doesn't give a kcal reading if your just concerned with working out in your target heart rate zones then this model does the trick. No-frills set.
  • Losing2Live69
    Losing2Live69 Posts: 743 Member
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    I got mine off of Amazon. It is a Polar FT4 and it was only $70. Make sure you get one with a chest strap...they are much more accurate. You don't have to get a real expensive and fancy one to get a good one. Look on Amazon. They are cheaper on there than they are in the stores. The shipping was free too.
  • RunHardBeStrong
    RunHardBeStrong Posts: 33,069 Member
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    The only regret I have is ....not getting one sooner!!!! It pushes me to work harder and I know exactly where I'm at on my calorie burn!
  • julslea
    julslea Posts: 436 Member
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    I got a Timex for $38.99 from overstock.com that came with a chest strap. I love it!! It is the best thing that I have ever purchased. I was over estimating my calories and this has kept me right on track!!

    I have the same HRM and I love it. It helps keep me motivated and on track with the calories I burn.
  • david081
    david081 Posts: 489 Member
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    If you want an accurate calorie burn measurement then get a HRM, they are not THAT expensive. I have the Polar FT4 and it gives me all the info I need, plus I wear it as a watch also. A HRM gives me the confidence to run, in the knowledge that I'm not overdoing it. Being almost 50, I think I'd be worried about running without one...
  • Losing2Live69
    Losing2Live69 Posts: 743 Member
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    I got a Timex for $38.99 from overstock.com that came with a chest strap. I love it!! It is the best thing that I have ever purchased. I was over estimating my calories and this has kept me right on track!!

    I was over estimating my calories too. Before I got my HRM I was going by MFP's exercise database figures. Most (not all) of them were way high! For example, MFP said for "swimming, general, leisure" you should burn 660 calories in an hour. After I got my Polar FT4 (can be used in a pool) I found out that I was only burning 157 calories in about 50 minutes! And I was eating back most of those exercise calories!!
  • leahsevilla
    leahsevilla Posts: 127 Member
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    don't know if anyone suggested this but if you belong to a gym the PT's get a discount code for HRM from Polar. Ask them about it. I got my FT7 for 60 bucks instead of 120...
  • Cletc
    Cletc Posts: 352
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    I use this one.
    The Garmin will tell all about its features.

    http://www.amazon.com/Garmin-Forerunner-Receiver-Monitor-Bilingual/dp/B000E3XPYQ
  • healthyjen342
    healthyjen342 Posts: 1,435 Member
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    I actually thought about getting one before I actually knew what they were called...One of my first posts on here was asking what type of device I could use to get a closer estimate of the number of calories i was burning while exercising...I got a polar FT7 a few weeks later and I must say, that is one of the best purchases i have made all year. well worth the money!
  • Minnie_Moo
    Minnie_Moo Posts: 239 Member
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    I think that the HRM's are worth it........Actually, I just bought my 2nd one (an upgrade with more bells and whistles than my older one)....

    Don't know if this will help you any but...........Here is a link that was posted in another thread with a lot of information on HRM's. Also, I would suggest getting one with a chest strap as they are better to calculate an accurate HR.


    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/blog/Azdak/view/the-real-facts-about-hrms-and-calories-what-you-need-to-know-before-purchasing-an-hrm-or-using-one-21472


    I purchased a Polar FT40 about 3 weeks ago and I :heart: it. The FT-40 has the Polar Fitness test which measures your aerobic fitness at rest and tells you your progress.

    Check the internet (ebay, amazon, sporting stores, etc.) for deals as I purchased my Polar FT40 and got it with free shipping and it arrived overnight from heartratemonitors dot com (I have used them in the past for pedometers and older HRM) and also found an $10.00 off total online code which definately helped with the price.......

    FYI - I was going by the calories burned according to my threadmill and now that I have the newer HRM which measures calories burned, I found there is a discrepancy between the numbers (since the end of Jan. and before using the HRM) I was eating more calories than I should have been :grumble: According to the threadmill, (for one day last week), it said I burned 219 calories but with wearing my new HRM (with chest strap) it said I only burned 169 calories :sad:
  • cmriverside
    cmriverside Posts: 34,124 Member
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    Minnie moo, that is the same link I posted above.....I stick that in a lot of places....it's a really good blog post, and Azdak is knowledgable about HRMs.

    And, really, a 50 calories difference between your treadmill and your HRM is well within the acceptable difference range. That could be accounted for in many different ways - including your intensity.

    Neither a HRM nor a treadmill is 100% accurate.

    _____________________________________________
  • Minnie_Moo
    Minnie_Moo Posts: 239 Member
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    Minnie moo, that is the same link I posted above.....I stick that in a lot of places....it's a really good blog post, and Azdak is knowledgable about HRMs.

    And, really, a 50 calories difference between your treadmill and your HRM is well within the acceptable difference range. That could be accounted for in many different ways - including your intensity.

    Neither a HRM nor a treadmill is 100% accurate.

    _____________________________________________

    @ cmriverside - Sorry about duplicating the link :ohwell: and YES I agree that it is an informative post :smile:

    I understand that 50 calories is not really a big difference between my threadmill and HRM......but I guess I'm trying to find an answer why my scale isn't moving :huh: and being frustrated......I was looking towards the answer that I have been eating back more calories than I should be since the end of Jan ?

    I did question the settings for my threadmill and iFit live has told has told me that "It goes by a national average, so my best bet is using the HRM for more accurate information" I am doing that now and hope to see the scale go down !